Bizjet engine alliances boost Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce, widely known for heavy engines, such as the Trent powering the Airbus A380 and Boeing B747, is in fact a pre-eminent provider of business jet engines and claims a 34 percent share of that market. The company delivered 328 engines for corporate aircraft last year, up from 250 in 2005. Rolls-Royce’s involvement with business aircraft began in 1958 with the Dart-powered Gulfstream I twin turboprop. Since then, the manufacturer has delivered more than 3,000 Dart, Spey, Tay and BR710 engines for successive Gulfstream models.

The first Bombardier business jet to be powered by R-R was the Global Express, which entered service in 1999 with two BR710s. The engine manufacturer delivered the 500th engine to Bombardier in March and now powers the entire Global line. Cessna buys AE 3007C1 turbofans from Rolls-Royce for the Citation X and the manufacturer delivered more than 500 engines of this type within a decade. Embraer uses the AE 3007A engine for the Legacy 600, derived from the ERJ 135 regional jet.

The BR710 family, the sole powerplant for the Gulfstream G500 and G550, as well as for the Global Express and Global 5000, is produced in Berlin Dahlewitz. The annual output of this plant is about 260 engines. The AE engine family is produced in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Partnerships are an important part of Rolls Royce activities. The company produces the 2,300-pound-thrust FJ44 with the U.S. manufacturer Williams. This engine powers the Cessna CJ1 and CJ2, the Beechcraft Premier I and the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2. The much larger 22,000- to 33,000-pound thrust IAE V2500 is produced by the IEA consortium, of which Rolls-Royce is a part. That engine powers the A319 Airbus Corporate Jetliner.

Rolls Royce forecasts a market of 51,000 engines for business aircraft over the next 20 years for the 24,000 new corporate aircraft manufacturers plan to build during that time. The company hopes to maintain its one-third share of that $70 billion market with current and new engines.